Cavs’ Anderson Varejao To Have Knee Surgery And Miss 6-8 Weeks

Marc Stein of ESPN has a report concerning the leading rebounder in the game today. This is unfortunate for both Cleveland and possible trade rumors. Check the tweet:

https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/289043531698409473

Anderson Varejao, who has spent all of his career with Cleveland so far, has been having a breakout season. He is averaging 14.1 points and 14.4 rebounds for the Cavaliers. However, he’s been out for the past three weeks with a bruised right knee. It’s unfortunate that he now has to get surgery to get the knee fixed and he’ll be sidelined until around late February or March. There’s a chance he’ll still be out of action by the time the trade deadline happens, which is on February 21st.

Varejao has been thrown around in trade rumors as he has the most trade value for the Cavaliers. While he is having a career year, he will soon be on the decline at 30-years-old, so the Cavs have thought of trading him while he still has a high trade value. Some contenders have been salivating at the thought of getting him because Varejao could ultimately put their squad over the top.

The Cavs are still in their rebuilding mode and with the team not going anywhere, Varejao is being wasted and, as mentioned, will soon be on the decline. Cleveland has been trying to find the right package of picks and youth with potential. The Cavs do have a nice young core of Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, and Dion Waiters. But with Varejao missing some time, that will interrupt some of their plans, if they had any.

Cleveland, who lost to Chicago, will be facing the Hawks on Wednesday night. The Cavs are currently 8-28 and are second to last place in the Eastern Conference (Washington Wizards are in last place with a 5-28 record).